The Real Reason Your Electricity Bill Tripled Since 2010
Every few months, Australians open their electricity bills and ask the same question: “Why is my energy bill so high?”
To find out, I spoke with Huon Hoogesteger from Smart Commercial Solar, who’s been helping businesses fight back against spiralling energy costs for more than a decade. His answer is both eye-opening and frustrating.
Electricity Costs Have Tripled Since 2010
Back in 2010, Australians were paying around 12 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity. Today, that same energy costs 30 to 35 cents per kilowatt-hour — nearly three times as much.
That’s an 8% increase every year for well over a decade. And it’s not just inflation — it’s the system itself.
Huon explains that while competition was meant to bring prices down, privatisation fractured the electricity system into dozens of layers:
Generators (the companies producing electricity)
Distributors (those maintaining the poles and wires)
Retailers (who buy from the big players and sell to you)
Every extra layer adds cost, marketing departments, CEOs, and bureaucracy — all funded by your bill.
The “Free Market” Isn’t Working for Households
When state governments privatised their energy assets in the 1990s, the idea was simple: More choice equals lower prices.
In reality, Huon says, “You can buy from the red one, the blue one, or the yellow one — but it’s all the same milk in a different carton.”
Behind the logos, most retailers still buy their electricity from the same few wholesalers — AGL, Origin, and EnergyAustralia — the “big three” that dominate the market.
Add to that a web of agencies, commissions and boards all regulating each other — from the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and AEMO to state ombudsmen and energy corporations — and it’s easy to see how costs ballooned while efficiency went out the window.
Who Actually Owns Australia’s Power?
Despite the patriotic names, many of Australia’s major electricity companies are foreign-owned.
EnergyAustralia is owned by CLP Group, a Hong Kong-based utility.
Origin Energy and AGL both have significant foreign shareholder interests.
These corporations earn billions from Australian households while often paying little or no local tax. In fact, over several years, Huon says, “They took around $30 billion in revenue and paid only about $300 million in tax.”
Should Australia Re-Nationalise the Grid?
Here’s the bold idea: buy the grid back.
The entire electricity network is valued at roughly $200 billion — about the same as a single nuclear submarine under the AUKUS deal. “Swap one submarine for the grid,” Huon jokes. “Then we’d have cheaper electricity, cheaper manufacturing, and cheaper ice cream.”
It sounds radical, but with Australian superannuation funds exceeding $3.9 trillion, there’s actually enough local capital to bring the grid back into public hands.
Why Batteries and Solar Are the Only Real Escape
Until that happens, Huon’s advice is clear:
“You have to take control of your own energy situation. The system won’t fix itself.”
Solar panels have already helped millions of homes, but it’s batteries that complete the picture.
Prices have fallen by about 70% in two years, and large-scale commercial batteries are now generating revenue by selling stored energy back into the market when prices spike — a strategy Huon calls “shorting the electricity market.”
For homeowners, storing solar energy during the day and using it at night can cut reliance on retailers by 60–90%, making bills predictable and protecting families from future price shocks.
The Road Ahead: Self-Reliance Over Bureaucracy
Australia’s electricity market has become a tangled web of profit layers and policy confusion, but ordinary people still have power — literally. By investing in solar, batteries, and smarter home energy management, households and businesses can step outside the broken system and take charge of their own costs.
Because waiting for governments or big energy companies to fix the mess? That’s a losing bet.
Final Thought
Electricity used to be a public service. Now it’s a profit machine — and every household is footing the bill. The good news? The tools to escape are already here. Solar. Battery. Smart energy management.
Stop being the product in someone else’s market — and start being the producer of your own power.
